When we arrive at theatre in the English Restoration, more information is available, from records, drawings, diaries and so on, than ever before. So, whereas I was hard pressed to tell you much about Elizabethan public theatres, for example, there is much more information on Restoration stages, and such information becomes even more available and more massive as we move into the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I took a full semester seminar in grad school on Restoration and eighteenth century English theatre. To get through the all information in the course we had to rush, and still only touched the surface. Beginning with the Restoration, then, the information in these lectures is necessarily much more reliant on Dr Jack’s filtration process. As I choose what to relate to you and what not, my own biases are revealed even more than they have been, so you must be wary, you must question, and you must begin to form your own view of theatre history. Take what you want of Dr Jack’story and make it YOURstory.
That said (admitted, confessed) let’s examine theatrical companies
in the Restoration. When the king was restored the theatre was also restored,
and immediately many people scrambled to show themselves worthy of producing
theatre, as theatre had proved lucrative in the Elizabethan era. We’re
going to omit the scramble, and look only at the results (Dr Jack’s first
filter!). After much fuss the king handed out two permits or patents
for the production of “legitimate” theatre in London. Any theatre that wasn’t
done by the two patentees was NOT legitimate, and was stopped, at least in
theory.
So! Two companies were formed, one called The King’s Company led
by Thomas Killigrew, the other called The Duke’s Company
led by William Davenant. Actors and even the plays that could be
produced were given to one company or the other. Killigrew was given most of the
older, established actors and many of the pre-1642 plays, but he ran his
company poorly. Davenant’s company depended on less seasoned actors
and had to produce mostly new plays, but the Duke’s Men were younger and
perhaps more eager. The company was also
closely supervised by Davenant, and became the more successful of the two.
When Davenant died in 1668 his actors, led by Thomas Betterton, assumed
artistic direction of the Duke’s Company. By 1682 Killigrew’s company
found itself in such serious financial straits that it was forced to merge with
the Duke’s Company. Shortly after this merger, outside investors in the
“unified” company sensed the money that could be made and in 1693 a
lawyer/investor named Christopher Rich took over the company. He had cash
and legal abilities but no theatrical experience and made life miserable for
the actors. One writer pronounced Rich “as sly a Tyrant as ever was at the Head
of a Theatre.” In 1695 a group of performers led again by Thomas Betterton left
the troupe and formed one of their own. So in the approximate forty years
we are looking at, first there were two legitimate companies, which in 1682
merged to become one, then in 1695 divided into two again, one run by Rich, the
other by Betterton.
Thomas Killigrew |
Theatrical entertainments in the Restoration were offered usually
three times a week, in the early evening, from October to June. The
“bill” of fare consisted of a full-length play with singing and dancing between
the acts, and the plays changed for each performance, creating a “rotating”
repertoire. Popular plays were repeated according to the desires of the market,
but not necessarily, or even usually, on consecutive nights.
Business becoming increasingly important in this era, let’s look
at how playwrights were paid. A few theatrical writers such as John
Dryden were attached to companies and received fixed salaries for their work, or
were shareholders in the company and received a steady income in that way.
Most writers, however, were paid a lump sum, and not a very large lump. On the
third night of a play’s repetition (if in fact it was popular enough to merit
to three performances) the writer received a “benefit” which meant she or he
took all the profits from that night’s performance. If the play ran to
six nights, on the sixth the writer again received the profits from that
performance “to benefit her or himself.” This system of benefits extended
gradually to actors and other members of a company and was used and extended
well into the nineteenth century.
Places of performance were largely, as they had been in France,
created from tennis courts. In 1660 Davenant leased Lisle’s tennis court
for his Duke’s company and in 1661 he converted the tennis court permanently
into what is known as Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre. This was a tiny space,
measuring only 30 by 75 feet. It was replaced 10 years later by the
Dorset Garden Theatre. The
Dorset Garden was designed by Christopher Wren, the most famous architect of the era. He practically re-built London after the great fire of 1666,most famously re-inventing St Paul’s Cathedral. The new Dorset Garden practically doubled the space of the old tennis court theatre: 57 by 140 feet.
Dorset Garden was designed by Christopher Wren, the most famous architect of the era. He practically re-built London after the great fire of 1666,most famously re-inventing St Paul’s Cathedral. The new Dorset Garden practically doubled the space of the old tennis court theatre: 57 by 140 feet.
Killigrew’s first space was Gibbons’ tennis court. Then in 1663
his Theatre Royal on Bridges Street was completed. This theatre burned in
1672 (an early example of a theatrical nightmare that would become all too
typical and deadly in the next few centuries), and Killigrew replaced it with
another built on the same site and called The Drury Lane Theatre. It
measured 58 by 140 feet and it was used until 1791. One of the most famous
theatres in the city, ever since 1672 a theatre called Drury Lane has been in
use in London.
After 1682, when the King’s and Duke’s companies combined, they used the Drury Lane Theatre, and in 1695, when Betterton and the actors formed their own company, they moved back to Lincoln’s Inn Fields. What did these three theatres so important to
This may or may not be a cross-section of the Drury Lane - it was once thought designed by Christopher Wren, but several scholars have debunked that claim |
"The Pit is an Amphitheatre, fill'd with Benches without Backboards, and adorn'd and cover'd with green Cloth. Men of Quality, particularly the younger Sort, some Ladies of Reputation and Virtue, and abundance of Damsels that haunt for Prey, sit all together in this Place, Higgledy-piggledy, chatter, toy, play, hear, hear not. Farther up, against the Wall, under the first Gallery and just opposite to the Stage, rises another Amphitheatre, which is taken by persons of the best Quality, among whom are generally very few Men. The Galleries, whereof there are only two Rows, are fill'd with none but ordinary People..."
The stage was an interesting mix of old and new. It was
raked, but it was divided equally into a forestage and a scenic stage.
The stage depth at Drury lane was 34 feet. The 17 feet closest to the
audience was forestage, the other 17 feet was scenic stage. There were
two doors on each side of the forestage, from which the actors entered and
exited. The scenic stage was equipped with wings in grooves and a rear
shutter, used solely for spectacle and framed by stage boxes, making a kind of
proscenium opening. These audience boxes on the sides of the stage looked
out over the forestage. As they had in the Elizabethan public theares fops sat
on the sides of the forestage as well, often blocking the view of those in the
stage boxes. The scenic stage made possible Italian style scene changes when
splendor and spectacle was called for.
Stage lighting in the restoration was much like that of the French
theatres. There were windows in the theatres to make use of natural sunlight
during the performances, which began in the late afternoon, but there were also
candles everywhere! The auditorium as well as the stage was lit by
candles, in chandeliers, and there were some attempts made to dim and color and
focus the light on stage. There was even a job associated with the
candles. Someone had to light them and maintain them during the performances at
intermissions, and afterwards to replace and repair them. So it’s not
surprising that paysheets for theatre companies include payment for “keepers of
the candles” – I must admit that I’ve had worse gigs in the theatre! By
1672 footlights began to be used in English theatres, which certainly
heightened illumination on an actor, but which also gave off that weird shadowy
effect characteristic of lighting from below.
For costumes, as in France the English actors wore contemporary
garments, with the occasional habit a la
Romaine for classical roles, equally as unlike a Roman as they were in
France.
Finally, the actors. Interestingly, this is one of the first eras (THE first in English-language theatre) from which we see sources on how to act. How did they act? Let's just say they were less than realistic. Emotion was portrayed physically, using certain stances, certain movements and positions of different body parts. Have a look below at how different emotions were to be read in positions of the hand:
More importantly, for the first time in England, beginning in 1660 women finally were allowed to play women’s roles! On the continent, remember, women had been playing women’s roles for approximately 70 to 80 years. In fact women on the continent had often performed in medieval religious and secular plays, and of course women were popular throughout Europe in commedia dell’arte troupes.
More importantly, for the first time in England, beginning in 1660 women finally were allowed to play women’s roles! On the continent, remember, women had been playing women’s roles for approximately 70 to 80 years. In fact women on the continent had often performed in medieval religious and secular plays, and of course women were popular throughout Europe in commedia dell’arte troupes.
Granted, theatres had been closed for nearly 20 years, but if you
were a middle aged person chances were very good that you’d seen performances
in the public theatres before the Commonwealth, and, because it was always this
way, you’d never have questioned that men and boys played women’s roles. For
early audiences in the Restoration it would have been surprising, even
shocking, to see WOMEN play women’s roles. What begins to happen in the
feelings of the audiences is a sexual pleasure, a titillation never before
experienced; from love scenes more realistic and passionate than ever before.
Low-cut bodices revealed heaving bosoms. Views of women’s rears, thighs and
calves were very apparent in the immediately popular breeches roles (in which
women disguised themselves as men). Body parts were revealed on stage that were
never displayed in public.
One of the nasty side effects of this new titillation was that women
in the theatre became fair game offstage as well as on for lords and gallants
who felt free to wait around after the play and proposition, seduce, even on
occasion abduct actresses for their own pleasure -- some of the women of course
may have been willing, but athere is a very dark side to the beginnings of
English actresses. Of course this is hardly all a thing of the
past. Women on stage (or film or TV) in earlier eras as well as in our era
have been and continue to be exploited in a sexual fashion. It may not be
surprising that women of quality in the audience began to wear masks to the
theatre, so that they could see the play, as the diarist Pepys suggested
“without the Risque of an Insult, to their Modesty.” This situation
became complicated when prostitutes began to wear masks as well, and “haunted
for prey...” The situation became so confusing that Queen Anneplaced a ban
on masks in the theatre in 1704.
As I noted at the beginning of this post, we know many, many more
actors in this era than in earlier ones, but let’s limit our comments to a
brief look at three of the most famous women on the Restoration stage:
Nell Gwynn, Elizabeth Barry, and Anne Bracegirdle. Nell Gwynn began
working in theatres as an orange wench (a job in which she most likely sold
other...commodities
...in addition to oranges). She became the mistress of a prominent actor, who also trained her to act. Nell became quite popular especially in comic roles and more specifically in breeches roles, and finally became the mistress of the king! At this point she retired from the stage, and bore Charles II two bastard sons, one of which was made a duke. When King Charles lay dying he presumably said “let not poor Nelly starve.” Whatever the truth of that statement, she was taken care of by the state until her death.
...in addition to oranges). She became the mistress of a prominent actor, who also trained her to act. Nell became quite popular especially in comic roles and more specifically in breeches roles, and finally became the mistress of the king! At this point she retired from the stage, and bore Charles II two bastard sons, one of which was made a duke. When King Charles lay dying he presumably said “let not poor Nelly starve.” Whatever the truth of that statement, she was taken care of by the state until her death.
Elizabeth Barry was also successful in comedy, but was remembered primarily
for her fine work in tragedy. Her voice and acting were described, by actor/manager
Colley Cibber as “full, clear and strong, so that no violence of passion could
be too much for her; and when distress or tenderness possessed her, she
subsided into the most affecting melody and softness. In the art of exciting pity she had a power beyond all actresses I have yet seen, or what your imagination can conceive.” Not a bad review! She was the usual leading lady to Thomas Betterton, about whom more in a bit, and she also had quite a reputation as a lover. A version of her story can be read in The Libertine, in which the playwright imagines her as a lover of the Earl of Rochester.
In fact she was his lover, and there was an incident on stage between Barry and another actress, a Miss Boutel, during a scene in which Barry was to stab the other actress, One night Barry “struck with such force that though the point of the dagger was blunted, it made its way through Miss Boutel’s stays, and entered about a quarter of an inch in the flesh.” Some said this had occurred because Barry was jealous of Rochester’s attentions to Miss Boutel; others say it was all about a veil, which Barry had wanted to wear on stage, but which was given to Miss Boutel instead. We’ll never be certain, darn it!
subsided into the most affecting melody and softness. In the art of exciting pity she had a power beyond all actresses I have yet seen, or what your imagination can conceive.” Not a bad review! She was the usual leading lady to Thomas Betterton, about whom more in a bit, and she also had quite a reputation as a lover. A version of her story can be read in The Libertine, in which the playwright imagines her as a lover of the Earl of Rochester.
In fact she was his lover, and there was an incident on stage between Barry and another actress, a Miss Boutel, during a scene in which Barry was to stab the other actress, One night Barry “struck with such force that though the point of the dagger was blunted, it made its way through Miss Boutel’s stays, and entered about a quarter of an inch in the flesh.” Some said this had occurred because Barry was jealous of Rochester’s attentions to Miss Boutel; others say it was all about a veil, which Barry had wanted to wear on stage, but which was given to Miss Boutel instead. We’ll never be certain, darn it!
Anne Bracegirdle is remembered prmarily for her work in the
comedies of manners, usually as the beautiful and witty heroine.
Among other roles she created Millamant in Congreve’s The Way of the World. Colley Cibber had this to say about Bracegirdle: “She was of a lovely Height, with dark-brown hair and eyebrows, black sparkling eyes, and a fresh blushy complexion; and whenever she exerted herself, had an involuntary flushing in her breast, neck and face, having continually a cheerful aspect, and a fine set of even white teeth...Genteel comedy was her chief essay, and that too when in men’s clothes, in which she far surmounted all the actresses of that and this age...” Yes, but could she act? Didn’t seem to matter! Point taken, I hope, about the titillation factor in Restoration theatre.
Among other roles she created Millamant in Congreve’s The Way of the World. Colley Cibber had this to say about Bracegirdle: “She was of a lovely Height, with dark-brown hair and eyebrows, black sparkling eyes, and a fresh blushy complexion; and whenever she exerted herself, had an involuntary flushing in her breast, neck and face, having continually a cheerful aspect, and a fine set of even white teeth...Genteel comedy was her chief essay, and that too when in men’s clothes, in which she far surmounted all the actresses of that and this age...” Yes, but could she act? Didn’t seem to matter! Point taken, I hope, about the titillation factor in Restoration theatre.
Among the fine male actors, I have just mentioned Colley Cibber,
who kept an important journal, and about whom we’ll learn more next semester.
Charles Hart was one of the more popular actors of the period, but is best
known today for his affair with Nell Gwynn
and for bringing her into the theatre. And Edward Kynaston was, at the beginning of the Restoration, the finest player of women’s roles. He had been a boy actor in the late Caroline period, when he learned to cross dress, but his career was cut short by the advent of women on the stage. Billy Crudup played him rather well in the recent film Stage Beauty, which was based, by the way, on a play.
and for bringing her into the theatre. And Edward Kynaston was, at the beginning of the Restoration, the finest player of women’s roles. He had been a boy actor in the late Caroline period, when he learned to cross dress, but his career was cut short by the advent of women on the stage. Billy Crudup played him rather well in the recent film Stage Beauty, which was based, by the way, on a play.
Thomas Betterton was the most important actor of the era, impressive in both comedy and tragedy. He was the primary player
of Hamlet in the Restoration; and he was also a bold and daring manager, among other deeds leading the actors in a revolt against their oppressive manager, and forming a new company. He is perhaps the first in a line of star actors/managers for whom an “age” is named. Insiders know that the Age of Betterton signifies the Restoration, and the Age of Garrick the 18th century. But more of that in the not so distant future.
Betterton is on the left here - this is the bedroom scene with the Queen and the ghost of Hamlet's father. Note that in this and in the picture below Betterton wears seventeenth century dress. |
Before we leave the Restoration, brief notes on two other dramatic forms that began in England during this time. At the very beginning of the previous lecture I noted that English opera began in the home of William Davenant, with The Siege of Rhodes. But composer Henry Purcell really put English opera on the map, not long after that maiden voyage. He wrote several operas but his most important was The Fairie Queen, which used as its source A Midsummer Night's Dream. In fact it, and others of Purcell's operas, remain in the repertoire today. Just a few examples in pictures:
Even more briefly I want to point out another popular form that had its origins at this time. Read the words in the picture below:
And if you've ever strolled around Little Venice in London, you'll see that puppet theatre and the Punch and Judy show has not gone away!
Next time we leap across time and space to Asia, for an all too brief look at theatre in India, China and Japan!
Jonathan Kent is the director who put the Almeida Theatre on the map - here you see Bottom and Titania, observed by Oberon |
Kent cleverly made use of seventeenth century techniques, such as flying machines |
But he also moved into the surreal...what is the Fairie Queen, after all, but a dream! |
Mark Morris of course has his own dance company, and is having fun with this production of Purcell at the English National Opera (ENO, in London |
And if you've ever strolled around Little Venice in London, you'll see that puppet theatre and the Punch and Judy show has not gone away!
Next time we leap across time and space to Asia, for an all too brief look at theatre in India, China and Japan!